Only In The Moonlight Does This Feel Right
by Emmelz Liebe
Summary: Everything in Jade Young's life was perfect, up until the day her mom died that is. Her world is falling apart, and for "financial reasons", her dad ships her and her brother, Christian, off to La Push. There's no telling how things will pan out for them.
1. Family Feud

**_Chapter 1: Family Feud_**

_June 17, 1892_

Dear Diary,

Today I have inherited my mother's old diary—you, in other words. I have no exact reason why, but to my knowledge, this book has been given from mother to daughter for generations. I suppose that I will give this to my own daughter when I feel that it is time to do so. I'm afraid I'll have to continue this entry later.

Sincerely,

Susan

-{}-

_September 6, 1939_

Dear Diary,

I don't know why, but my mother gave me her diary. Something about, 'you'll soon give this to your daughter'. I'm not quite sure myself. Apparently this has been passed down from mother to daughter for years—it dates back to 1789! The first page is pretty… creepy to say the least. The back cover is thicker than the front, and it has a clasp on the inside for some reason. I tried to open it, but it's shut for good. I can't get it open. Mom's calling—I'll write later.

Bye,

Anna

-{}-

_April 17, 1965_

Hey,

My name's Jenna. This belonged to my mother, but she passed away last week in a fire. I've noticed that this used to belong to my grandma, her mother, her mother's mother, and so on. I'm not very fond of the whole concept of a 'diary' because most people say that it's supposed to be used to write your dreams and such in, so I'm afraid I won't be writing in this thing so much. I'm more about going out and doing rather than writing and thinking. That's what this age is all about after all.

Peace and Love,

Jenna baby

-{}-

_February 28, 1999_

Dear Diary,

In you I've always confided since the death of my mother, Jennifer, in the crash. Now I fear that this may be the last time for me to ever write to you. Something's after me, and I fear that "thing" may not even be human. I've written my will, and I feel that if I do, I will die a happy woman. I've mothered my two children, Jade and Christian. I've met my husband and love him dearly. My life is complete. So with this, I say goodbye. I wish my family the best of luck in the future—with me there or not.

Goodbye,

Sandra

-{}-

She read through the journals of her past ancestors, marveling at their words — their life. However, her mother's entry intrigued her the most.

_She had known that she was going to die soon._ She thought. _How is that even possible...?_

"Enjoying the book mom left you?"

She looked up at the door frame that her brother, Christian, stood in before answering. "Um, yea..." She murmured quietly, closing it and holding it close to her body, afraid that if she let it go she'd never see it again. "Is there something you needed?"

Christian sighed tiredly, sauntering over to his sister's bed and sitting down beside her. "Jade, you're my little sister and I love the hell out of you," He began, laughing as he ruffled her hair, earning a small smile. "But please, you have to let mom go. She's not coming back — I'm sorry, but... she's just gone." He said, his eyes a darker brown than usual as they showed his sorrow. "I loved her too, but my guess is that she wouldn't want us to wallow and mourn about her forever. It's time to move on. She died years ago, Jade — time to move on."

Jade sighed and gave a slight nod of the head. "I know Chris, it's just so hard. I mean, you or dad didn't have the connection we had." She explained. "I'm almost over the incident though, I promise."

Christian nodded and gave his younger sister. "Take your time, Jade. I just hate seeing you so depressed. It's not you — the _real_you." He told her. "Oh... and dad wants to talk to us, so come down when you're ready. Just hurry though, you know he gets impatient."

Jade gave a quick nod as her brother exited the room. She then hid the diary away in it's usual spot before walking out and heading downstairs. Jade entered the dining room where she saw Christian and her father sitting at the table, and joined them, pulling out an empty chair and plopping down on it.

Once noticing the family was together, her father began to make the announcement. "Jade, Christian, there's something that I've wanted to tell you for some time now." He began. "We're moving... well, at least you two are."

"_What_?" Christian inquired, a certain edge to his voice. "What the hell does that mean — 'at least you two are'?"

"Christian, keep your voice down." He demanded, Christian glared at his father but did as he was told nonetheless. "As I was saying, you two will be moving away. I'm afraid that I've done some horrible things financially and I can't support you both anymore... barely myself even. We've been getting this far because I've been loaning money from relatives. We all know that I can't do that forever."

"So where are we supposed to go exactly?" Christian questioned bitterly, trying to control his anger.

"You'll both be going to live with my sister — your Aunt Emily." He answered. "You wouldn't remember her; you both met her only as babies. She's a nice woman. I know you'll bother like her."

"More than you, that's for sure. I mean, you can't even take care of your children." Christian mumbled under his breath.

"Christian!" Their father barked angrily. "As soon as I get back on my feet, you're coming home! This is only temporary!"

"Well, sometimes I think it'd be better if it were permanent! You've been nothing but a shitty excuse for a dad since mom died! You're too damn caught up with the past to focus on the future!"

"Christian, go upstairs and just start packing! Your plane leaves tomorrow at noon!"

"Oh, so you can afford to pay for airplane tickets?" Christian snarled.

"GO UPSTAIRS DAMMIT!"

Jade flinched at the anger in her father's words. He looked at his daughter which caused her to grow nervous. "You too, Jade." He growled out, restraining himself from taking his anger out on her as well.

Nodding quickly, she practically ran upstairs and into her bedroom. Jade closed the door behind her and got out suitcases, stuffing them with all her belongings and valuables.

The following day, Christian and Jade were dropped off at JFK Airport by their father. Things were still on edge and so the three of them said their quick goodbyes and were wished a safe trip by him.

"Come on, Jade, we don 't need someone like that." Chris said, guiding her into the building.

After they had gone through security, and had boarded their plane, the plane took off. Hours had passed and the siblings soon arrived at Port Angeles Airport. The two of them were thankful to be off the plane.

"Do we have to get a taxi?" Jade asked as they walked out.

"Emily's supposed to be waiting for us."

Christian and Jade traveled down the terminals and soon walked out of the building. Jade soon took notice of a woman who was staring at the two of them curiously. Her hair was jet black and reached a bit past her shoulders. Her pearly white smile stuck out perfectly against her tanned skin. Diagonal scars marred the skin on her face and Jade was a bit shocked at them, and she soon looked away from them immediately.

She made her way over to the brother and sister and Jade was wondering what the woman could've wanted. "Hello," She greeted. "I'm sorry to bother you, but my names Emily Young. You wouldn't happen to be Jade and Christian Young would you?"

"You're Aunt Emily?" Chris inquired, and was soon answered with a warm smile and a nod. "I'm Chris and this is my little sister, Jade. It's nice to meet you."

He shook her hand and Emily pulled him into a hug. The two pulled away and Emily then engulfed Jade next, who constantly reminded herself to not stare at the scars.

"Come on now, the drive to La Push isn't exactly pleasant." Emily stated, guiding them out of the airport and into the parking garage where they got into the truck.


	2. Introductions

**_Chapter 2: Introductions_**

Jade had to agree with her Aunt Emily. The road to La Push wasn't pleasant — it had been far too long for her tastes. Sitting in the cramped truck wasn't exactly comfortable for the three of them.

When Emily killed the engine, they found themselves in front of a two story building that looked homey. Jade felt that this place wouldn't be a disappointment.

"Well, here we are." Emily sighed contently, getting out of the vehicle, Christian and Jade following suit.

Everyone picked up a suitcase and helped carry the luggage up the porch stairs. Aunt Emily opened the door and the three of them walked inside the humble home.

"It's not much," Emily began. "But its home."

"It's nice, I like it." Jade smiled.

Emily smiled back in gratitude. "Thank you, Jade." She replied. "Your rooms are upstairs, although I'm afraid one of you will have to take the attic. Don't worry though, Sam and I spruced it up — it's not half-bad actually."

Jade looked to Chris as she picked up her bags from the floor. "I'll take the attic."

"Whatever you want, Jade." He responded, shrugging his shoulders as he picked up his luggage as well.

"Why don't you both go and unpack?" Emily suggested. "I'll start making dinner."

The siblings nodded and began to ascend the staircase. Chris walked into his room first and Jade continued to go up another flight. She opened the door at the top of the staircase and entered the room.

The walls were painted a calm Teal, a color that Jade didn't mind and actually enjoyed. In the middle of the room against the back wall, a bed with a Midnight Green comforter beckoned her to come and sit, relax on the furniture. On the adjacent right wall, a wooden desk stood there, a lamp residing upon it. Next to the desk, a small bookshelf sat there, a few dictionaries and encyclopedias on the few shelves. And on the other wall, a large wooden dresser that was painted white stood up against it, a large window beside it.

Jade threw her suitcases upon the bed, ruining the wrinkle free covers, and began to put away her belongings. She set up photos from her past life in New York upon the dresser and desk. Lastly, Jade placed her white Mac upon the desk, a few books onto the shelves, and put her now empty suitcases in the corner of the room to hide them.

_Out of sight, out of mind, right?_

She sat upon her bed and gave a tired sigh. Jade gave a quick glance at her phone's clock and noticed it was just past three o'clock. _Why's Emily making dinner so early? Do they usually eat at this time...?_ She questioned. She looked around the room and gave a shrug of the shoulders before standing up and walking out of the room. _I'll help her._

Jade headed into the kitchen and saw Emily standing beside counter, mushing grounded meat together, no doubt making hamburgers.

"Need some help, Emily?"

Emily looked over her shoulder, somewhat curious to see who had talked — she still wasn't used to having her niece and nephew over to stay. "Oh, that would be great, Jade, thank you." She replied with a small smile.

The two of them ended up making more hamburgers than Jade had suspected — around thirty in total. After making the hamburgers, Emily and Jade then made two large pot fulls of spaghetti and meatballs. Needless to say, Jade was shocked at the amount of food they were preparing.

"Um, Emily...?"

Emily turned to her with a small smile. "Yes, Jade?"

"Why are we making so much food?"

"Well, the boys are coming over — they always do — and they have very hearty appetites." Emily explained. "The boys are Sam's friends. They're around your age, too, so I'm sure that you and Christian will get along just fine. You'll be seeing them a lot." Jade nodded as she listened to her aunt.

After finishing at a quarter-to-five, Jade returned upstairs and into her room. She sighed as boredom threatened to overtake her. She then turned to her laptop for some kind of entertainment. Jade turned on the electronic and logged onto the internet, beginning to check her email for anything to interest her. She wrote a quick message to her dad about how things were and what had happened when she remembered that he had instructed her to keep him updated on everything.

Once she was done, she pressed "Send" and watched as the screen popped up with a new window saying the message was sent successfully. Jade turned the Mac off and fell backwards onto her bed.

Sighing, Jade got comfortable as her eyes did a quick sweep of her new room. What was there to do around here...? Her eyes landed upon one of the many books on the bookshelf and she reached out to it. She opened up the diary and flipped to a random entry.

_September 6, 1939_

Dear Diary,

I don't know why, but my mother gave me her diary. Something about, 'you'll soon give this to your daughter'. I'm not quite sure myself. Apparently this has been passed down from mother to daughter for years — it dates back to 1789! The first page is pretty… creepy to say the least. The back cover is thicker than the front, and it has a clasp on the inside for some reason. I tried to open it, but it's shut for good. I can't get it open. Mom's calling — I'll write later.

Bye,

Anna

Jade went to the front of the book to the first page in curiosity and read the text silently to herself.

_The moonlight's gift  
>Is another's curse<br>A guardian, protector  
>For better, for worse<em>

A descendant of those  
>Who kill for red wine<br>Immortal enemies  
>Will cross the line<p>

Destined to meet  
>Is two youth's fate<br>Love at first sight  
>Will overcome hate<p>

Jade reread the small few stanzas and she knew that this was some sort of prank. Was this old thing suggesting that there were such things as _immortals_...?

Jade rolled her eyes as the simple thought and then went to the back of the journal. On the inside there was, in fact, a small clasp. She attempted to open it, however, it wouldn't budge.

This was slightly frustrating to Jade.

There was a soft knocking on her door and she put the diary underneath the pillow for safekeeping. "Come in."

A tanned man came inside her room — shirtless — with the body of a tall athlete on steroids. "Hello, I'm Sam Uley." He introduced. "I'm Emily's fiancé."

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, I'm Jade Young, her niece."

"It's nice to meet you, too." He replied with a nod. "Anyways, Emily says that dinner's on the table and that you can come in whenever you want to eat."

"Okay, I'll be right down."

Sam nodded his head in understanding and walked out of the room, closing the door silently, his footsteps fading down the staircase.

_That was kind of awkward..._She thought as she began to exit the room and follow Sam's earlier lead.

Jade paused when she reached the bottom of the staircase, staring at the sight before her. A few large guys were sitting at the dining table — shirtless — and scarfing down everything on their plate. Chris, who was already seated, was the one exception. He also looked a bit confused at the scene, but wasn't going to make anything out of it.

Jade could feel her cheeks becoming hot as blood rushed to them in slight embarrassment. Jade hadn't realized how truly sheltered she was until now...

She then noticed that the boys that had been wolfing down the food were now staring at her curiously. Jade gave a small and shy smile before walking over to the empty seat between Emily and Chris.

"Jade, these are the boys, Paul, Embry, Quil, Jared, and you just met Sam, my fiancé." Emily introduced, and Jade couldn't help but notice one more empty chair that was across from here. "Boys, this is Jade, my other niece besides Claire, and Chris's sister."

"Nice to meet you." She murmured softly.

They all gave nods and a few welcoming smiles before they continued to eat ravenously. After Paul, Jade believed his name was, served himself more spaghetti, there was no more in the serving plate. Noticing this, Jade stood from her chair, grabbing the plate and heading into the kitchen to refill it.

Emily saw this and smiled. "Thanks Jade." Jade gave a small smile and then continued on into the kitchen.

She headed towards the stove and placed the platter onto the counter. Jade grabbed the spoon and began to put more pasta onto the plate.

"There you are," Jade heard Sam talk from the other room. "Go and get yourself a plate and sit down."

Jade thought she would finally know who the missing person from the table was. She got out a clean plate from the cabinet and got ready to hand it to the person.

She turned when she heard the footsteps getting closer and saw that it was another — shirtless — boy. He was scrutinizing the floorboards, looking like he was deep in thought. When Jade realized that he wasn't going to notice her being there any time soon, she cleared her throat and waited.

He looked up, slightly confused, and his eyes widened as their eyes met. Jade took in everything about him. He was tall, russet skinned with the body of a well conditioned athlete, and his hair was black and cropped.

It then occurred to Jade that they had been staring at each other in awe for more than a minute. "Here's a plate." Jade said, finally finding her voice.

He seemed to snap back into reality as well, and he nodded, smiling at Jade in appreciation. He reached out for the plate and took it into his grasp. Suddenly he let it go and it fell to the floor, breaking it into small ceramic pieces.

The two of them both knelt down and began to pick up the small shards one-by-one. There was a small commotion in the dining room as everyone began to stand up and walk towards them.

"Ouch," Jade muttered as one of the small shards cut her palm.

"Are you alright?" He asked quickly with concern, his voice mesmerizing.

"Um, yea... it's just a small cut." She answered.

They quickly resumed picking up the pieces before anyone could come inside.

"What happened?" Emily asked as she noticed all the pieces on the counter.

"I was handing the plate to… him," Jade pointed to the boy, not knowing his name yet. "And I accidentally lost my grip on the plate. He tried to grab it, but it fell. I'm sorry, Emily."

"It's fine, honey," She said. "No harm done."

"Actually she cut her hand, where are the bandages?" The boy asked.

"Inside the left cabinet, are you alright?"

"Yea, it's just a small cut."

Jade looked down and realized it wasn't as small as she had once thought. It was in fact an inch and a half in length and the blood was oozing out rapidly.

"Come over here and rinse that out." Emily ordered, turning on the faucet.

The boy brought over the bandages and took her hand. He put a few cotton balls onto it and put some pressure on it. Emily then left, realizing that everything would be fine.

"I'm sorry," He apologized.

Jade looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean? This wasn't your fault."

"No, but if I had just gotten a better grip, it wouldn't have shattered in the first place."

"It's alright, really." She said.

He nodded, but didn't look completely reassured. After a few minutes, he then switched out the cotton balls with clean ones and then put the large bandage over it.

"Thanks," Jade smiled gratefully at him.

He nodded and smiled back as Jade got him another plate. She finished putting more spaghetti onto the dish and returned shortly after, setting it down onto the table, hands attacking it immediately.

Throughout the rest of the dinner, the boy kept staring at Jade, making her rather uncomfortable. As a result, she was blushing throughout the entire meal.

As dinner ended, Jade helped Emily clear the table and take the dirty dishes to the sink to be washed. As soon as the two of them left, there were howls of laughter.

"Oh, man! I can't believe you!" voices howled with laughter.

"Shut up!" She heard the boy's familiar voice demand. "I _didn't_ — it's _impossible_!"

"Oh yea, because Bella's your girl, right?" One of them snickered.

"Paul, shut your mouth."

"Make me, Black."

"Maybe I will!" He retorted.

"Hey, settle down!" Sam hollered at the boys.

They did as they were told and didn't speak another word.

"Jade, why don't you go upstairs and unwind?" Emily suggested. "I'm sure you must be jet lagged,"

"Yea," She nodded. "Just a little."

Jade left the kitchen and reentered the dining room. All eyes were on her and it became awkward instantly. She quickened her pace as headed towards the staircase. She soon entered her room and she let out a sigh of relief.

Jade sat down on her bed and grabbed the diary from underneath the pillow, turning to the first few pages that were a yellowish-tinge because of their old age.

_August 14, 1789_

Hello,

My name's Amelia. The things I've seen are not meant to be known, however, they're not meant to be secret either. So I feel that it's my responsibility to keep my family in the future well educated about these beings.

My mother, Bernadette, was murdered by these creatures—these monstrosities. It saddens me, however, to know that I am a descendant of them.

They're…

The rest of the page was torn off, and on some parts red ink was visible.

She turned the page and there was a knock on the door. Jade hid the book under the covers and turned towards the door.

"Come in," She called.


	3. Stolen

**_Chapter 3 - Stolen_**

The door slowly opened up and revealed the boy whose name Jade still didn't know.

"Hi," She greeted quietly.

"Hey," He responded. There was then a moment of awkward silence as he walked into the room, closing the door behind him. "Um, I never really introduced myself downstairs. I'm Jacob Black, and you're Jade, Emily's niece, right?"

"Yes, I am." Jade replied, giving a small smile, not being able to help herself.

"Well, welcome to La Push." Jacob chuckled and scratched his head for more conversation starters. "Er... your brother said he'd come so I thought I'd ask you, too." He began. "Me and the guys were going to go down to the beach tomorrow. It's supposed to be pretty good weather. Do you wanna come?"

Jade thought for a second. The beach, it was the perfect way to kill time. Not to mention she might be able to get to know them better and her stay here might be more fun. "Sure," She finally agreed.

"Great!" His enthusiasm seemed to grow. "I mean, that's cool," He nodded, though the smile never left his lips. "Um, well, Sam's leaving earlier and so how about I come and get you and Chris tomorrow at around noon?"

"Sounds great."

"Awesome," Jacob laughed. Jade was amazed and in awe of his melodic laugh. "See ya tomorrow, Jade,"

He then left, murmuring a small goodbye, which she returned, and left her to her thoughts. She was somewhat confused that she had thought his laugh was "_melodic_". Since when had she ever thought that about anyone's laugh...?

She couldn't possibly be falling for someone she had just met. How cliché was that...? That was something that you only read in fairy tales or saw in those cheesy romantic movies — not in _real life_. Perhaps it was simply puppy love or a small crush that would surely evaporate into nothing. That had to be it...!

About thirty minutes had passed, all of which were spent thinking about Jacob — Jade's newest crush, her newest infatuation, and it was soon 7:30.

There were knocks on her door and Chris marched right on through. "Emily wants all of us to have a movie night and she let me pick the movie. Come downstairs, Jade."

"Alright, I'll be right there after I put my pajamas on." She replied, shooing her brother out of the room hastily.

She put on her usual white nightgown and put on some comfortable shorts underneath them. She pulled back her hair in a loose pony tail and slipped on her white slippers. Jade then slipped out of the room and down the stairs briskly, not wanting to keep them waiting too long.

She entered the humble living room and sat down on the empty recliner like Chris was since Emily and Sam were occupying the couch, cuddling together.

"The popcorn just finished, can you go get it?" Chris asked.

Jade nodded and headed for the kitchen. She grabbed a bowl and poured the fluffy food out into it from the bag, soon handing over the bowl to Chris.

"Thanks."

"Sure, so what are we watching?"

"Underworld." Chris answered, a wicked smile on his lips. Underworld had been his favorite movie since it first came out.

"Hey Emily, have you heard of it?" Jade asked her aunt curiously.

"The name sounds familiar, but I can't put my finger on it." She replied, thinking hard about the movie.

"Oh, it's about a war between vampires and werewolves." Chris said energetically.

Jade noticed her future Uncle stiffen at the mention of the fake creatures and chuckled to herself softly. "It's a really good movie, Sam." She said. "It's not scary."

"I'm not scared." He mumbled, rolling his eyes that she had suggested such an outrageous idea. _If only she knew._He thought. "Vampires are just stupid, that's all."

"Are you kidding me? They're amazing." Chris debated. "Although werewolves aren't all that bad either."

"Their habits are disgusting — drinking blood, how much more vile can anything be?"

Chris chuckled to himself before looking at Sam. "I wonder what would happen if they drank blood that contained an STD?" He questioned himself, soon laughing. "You and Jade are the same. You both like werewolves better than vampires."

"Only because they _are_, Chris." Jade retorted, sticking her tongue out playfully at him. "A werewolf could take a vamp _any_day of the week."

"I like her." Sam told Emily.

"Wanna make a bet?"

"You're on. I bet twenty dollars." Jade responded, rolling her eyes at his suggestion. "Besides, I won't even have to pay you because they aren't real — they're completely superficial. Just like your brain!"

Chris grabbed one of the pillows and threw it at his sister playfully. "Just be quiet, it's starting." He then picked up another pillow from the floor and hurled it at Sam. "And don't think I didn't hear what you said about liking Jade more than me!"

Sam just grumbled some incoherent things before snuggling closer to Emily, ignoring the movie. Jade was curious as to why Sam was so adamant about hating vampires. However, she decided to not think about it, and focus all her attention on the movie, enjoying it.

Jade was awoken by her alarm clock at around nine in the morning. She groaned and picked her arm up, extending it out and hitting the contraption to end it's constant beeping.

She sat up in her bed and looked around for a few seconds, collecting herself. For her first night's sleep here, it was very nice. Jade was feeling refreshed as she smelt the clean air, it was much better than the usual polluted air back in New York. She looked out her window and saw that it was sunny and her spirits lifted at the sight.

_It looks nice out,_ She thought. _I wonder what the beach is like…_

A particular smell caught her attention and she took a deep breath. It was the odor of breakfast, and Jade's stomach grumbled and growled in hunger.

She quickly rushed downstairs and noticed that almost everyone from last night was present, Jacob was the one exception. Jade grabbed a plate and served herself before sitting down in the seat she had last night.

"Morning," She mumbled, still somewhat groggy, and a chorus of 'mornings' responded back to her.

"Good morning, Jade." Emily greeted perkily. "How did you sleep?"

"Great, I feel good."

"Glad to hear it."

"Where's Jacob at?" Jade inquired curiously.

The guys at the table looked at each other with sly smirks plastered to their faces. Before she could notice, they were wiped off and Paul soon answered her question.

"He's just getting home from his shift."

"Oh, alright. How far is the beach?" She asked.

"Not too far," Jared shrugged.

The rest of the breakfast was quiet and somewhat awkward. Jade wondered if it was like this before she was here of if it happened because she _was_ there. Jade felt like it was the section option more than the first. For some reason, she just _knew_it was.

The guys and Sam left the house after eating, leaving Emily and Jade to clean their mess since Chris decided to head upstairs to his room. Jade thought they could've at least put their plates in the sink, but that was men for you...

"Go on upstairs, Jade." Emily ordered with a small smile. "You have to get ready. Jacob's going to be here for you and Chris in a few minutes."

Jade then nodded and left the kitchen, ascending the staircase and into her room. She changed out of her pajamas, and got into her bathing suit. Jade then rummaged through her dresser until she found a dress that would act as a cover up for the ride to the beach, slipping it on effortlessly. Jade then began to gather a few items to take to the beach in a bag, making sure to put a towel and sunscreen inside first.

Her attention went towards the door when she heard a knocking on it. "Can I come in?" The voice inquired.

"Yeah, sure."

The door opened and a smiling Jacob came inside. "Hey, you ready?"

Jade could only smile back when she was in his presence. "Yeah. I just finished changing, just let me put my sandals on and I'll be down in a few."

"Alright. Want me to take your things so I can put it in the car?"

"Please, thank you."

Jacob walked over to her bed and scooped up her bag that was fully packed. He slung it over his shoulder and gave her a quick smile before leaving the room. After slipping on her white sandals that were underneath her bed, she bounded down the stairs and towards the front door.

"Bye, Emily!" She cried as she ran out.

"Be careful and have fun!"

Jade made her way to the red Rabbit, and noticed her brother was no where to be found. Jacob was closing the trunk and made his way to the driver's seat.

"Jacob, where's Chris?" She curiously inquired.

"He said he was going to come later when Sam comes back. Emily is making some food and so he was going to help bring it over with Sam." He explained.

"Oh, alright," She sighed, giving a shrug, slightly disappointed her brother wouldn't be able to go with her. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah, I was just waiting on you."

Jade smiled at Jacob and the two of them got into the vehicle. Jacob started up the engine and they were soon driving down the asphalt towards First Beach.

Jacob and Jade disembarked the car as it came to a halt. The two of them grabbed the few belongings from the trunk and began to walk towards the waves that pounded the shore.

"So tell me about yourself, Jade." Jacob ordered. "I'm a very curious person."

"Well, I'm currently 16 years of age right now. I'm pretty clumsy and outrageously danger-prone." She threw out. "I don't know what you want to be told. What do you wanna know?"

"Where'd you move from, what's the rest of your family like — anything really — favorite things, hobbies, colors, numbers... _anything_." He chuckled.

"Well, I'll go in that order." She started. "I came here from Queens, New York. The rest of my family is my dad, Chris, Emily, and Sam will be in it soon apparently. My mom died a few years back. The officials said it was a gang fight that she got in the middle of, but I don't believe it."

"What makes you doubt it?" Jacob stared at her in confusion.

"In her will, she left me her diary. She wrote that something was after her and she thought it wasn't human. I believe my mom, I always have. She was one of the most truthful people I know. I don't know why she would make something up like that, so I figure it had to be true... at least to some extent."

"I'm sorry for talking about this with you." Jacob apologized. "I hope I didn't bring up any unwanted memories."

"It's fine, I'm getting over it." Jade gave him a reassuring smile, though she was pretty sure _she_ was the one needing the reassuring, not _Jacob_. "Getting back on track... my favorite things are dogs, a few sports like Volleyball, cross country, music... there's actually quite a lot of things I like. My hobbies...? I don't really have any. I don't really have a favorite color, any shade of green is fine with me. I don't really know anyone that has a favorite number, but I guess I'll go with the number eight. I'm not really an interesting person." Jade laughed to herself. "Sorry if I bored you."

"You're interesting, and I didn't get bored listening." Jacob retorted.

The two of them finally decided upon a spot and Jade began to spread out her beach towel. She began to apply some sun screen — her skin burned easily, much to her displeasure — and Jacob could only stare at her as she lathered her fair skin in the white lotion. Jacob managed to look away when she finished and helped put some things down.

"Do you like adrenaline rushes, Jade?"

"Depends..." She shrugged her shoulders, turning to face Jacob. "What is it?"

"Recreational cliff diving."

Jacob watched Jade as she thought about it, thinking over it carefully. "Only if you go with me. I'm not doing that alone." She answered.

"That's fine. It's really not as scary as you think, though." He replied. "Follow me."

When he began to walk away, Jade rose from the sand and lifted her dress up and off her body. She dusted her thighs free of sticking sand and stashed the dress into her bag before running to catch up with Jacob. After a long hike up a mountain, they reached their destination. Upon reached the cliff, Jade heard multiple howls and noticed that the rest of the guys were there as well.

"Finally, what took so long?" Embry questioned.

"Oh, I think I know...!" Paul snickered, causing the rest to break out in laughter as well.

Jade blushed lightly as blood rushed to her cheeks. She didn't need to ask about what Paul thought they were doing.

"Shut up, Paul." Jacob growled lowly, rolling his eyes at his immature statement.

"Is she jumping?" Jared asked, looking at Jade curiously.

"Yeah." Jacob nodded.

"There's nothing to be afraid of." Jared reassured. "The worst part is just waiting to hit the water."

"Are we going to have to do all the work and push her over?" Paul questioned.

"Paul, shut your damn mouth!" Jacob yelled furiously. "Remember how chicken shit you were your first time?"

The rest of the boys started to howl with laughter. Jade couldn't help herself either as she gripped her sides at the mental image of a frightened Paul.

Paul growled and tackled Jacob blindly. The force sent the two boys over the edge and into the watery abyss. Jade felt nervous without her new friend with her.

_He was supposed to jump with me._She thought.

Embry took notice of Jade's stiff posture and walked over to her, putting an arm over her shoulder. "You're not going to chick out now because Jake isn't here, are you?"

"Maybe."

"You should still try it, Jade. It's fun after the first time." Jared suggested. "Want me to go with you in Jacob's place?" Jade could only nod her head in response. Jared walked over to her and took her hand in his. "Ready?"

She nodded once more and the two began to get a running start towards the cliff. As they were about to jump, Jared was yanked back by a hysterical Quil who was now laughing wildly as Jade went plummeting towards the ocean.

As Jade fell, her adrenaline kicked in, her heart pounding in her chest like a wrecking ball. She kept her eyes open, desperately wanting to close them, however the adrenaline making it impossible to do so. She could only watch in slight fear as the dark blue waves grew closer and closer to her body with each passing second. Finally she took a deep breath of air, and the ocean took her in, breaking her fall and her momentum slowing as she went further and further down.

The impact shocked Jade so to speak. The water was icy cold and it made her mind go fuzzy as she was no longer able to think correctly. After getting over her state, she began to swim towards the surface, however the current thought otherwise. With each new attempt to resurface, the water brought her further down. She soon found herself at the bottom, the squishy sand sifting between her toes.

Jade began to panic when she realized she only had seconds of air left in her lungs.

What was she going to do...?

When she thought all hope was lost, the current seemed calm. She decided to try for it once more and found that she was now getting closer to the surface.

_Tug…_

Her head snapped down to see a rope made of kelp holding her back from her goal as it was wrapped tight around her ankle. Jade could feel her lungs begin to rattle from lack of oxygen. With speed she never knew she had, she swam towards the kelp and tried to break it's grip.

Within seconds, she found herself becoming numb and her world going black.

"You're such an idiot, Paul!" Jacob shouted as he rushed back towards the cliff.

Paul could only continue laughing hysterically as he ran after Jacob up the hill. Jacob and Paul reached the group and saw that something was missing.

"Where's Jade?" Jacob asked.

"She jumped. I was about to go with her, but _someone_over here..." Jared looked at Quil. "Yanked me back and so she went down alone."

"I'm starting to get worried." Embry muttered. "She's been under for what, a minute already?"

"What?" Jacob screamed, his heart beginning to race like no others'. "She's been down there for that amount of time and none of you went after here?" Jacob then sprung off the cliff, diving in after Jade.

Jacob began searching around for her, the salty water stinging his eyes terribly. He found that she was no where to be seen though and that worried him. Jacob swam deeper into the darkness and found that the lighting was getting dimmer.

Suddenly he saw her. She was attempting to get seaweed off her. Jade's body began to shiver and tremble. Jacob could feel his heart stopping at the sight. Her body became limp and began to sway with the soft current.

Jacob speedily swam towards her and untied the kelp. He put one arm around her waist and pushed off of the sea floor, swimming quickly towards the surface.

They resurfaced and Jacob gasped for air. Seeing their friend resurface, the rest of the boys jumped into the ocean. They then helped carry the two teens back towards shore.

Jade was placed onto the sand and Jacob crawled over to her.

"Jacob, do CPR or something...!" Jared ordered urgently.

Jacob stared at Jade's face. It was pale, almost a blue tinge. Even so, he still thought she was quite beautiful...

"Lover boy — stop gawking, start breathing...!" Paul yelled.

Without wasting anymore time, Jacob hovered over her from the side. He pinched her nose and lifted her head back slightly to open the airway. After taking a large breath, he pressed his lips to hers. The sensation of their lips meshing together sent off fireworks in his being and he nearly forgot he was supposed to be saving her life...!

After giving her air, Jacob separated from her lips and began to do thirty compressions on her chest. His cheeks flushed a dark red because of where his hands were placed — not even an inch below her breasts — and the boys snickered quietly at his reaction.

After a few more compressions, Jade began to cough violently and water then left her system. Jade's eyes grew teary as she coughed and she turned her attention towards the guys who stared at her in concern.

"W-what happened...?" She inquired, her voice scratchy.

"You drowned." Quil answered rather bluntly.

"Quil, shut your mouth!" Jared yelled, and then looked down at Jade with a small and relieved smile. "It's a good thing that Jacob is excellent at CPR." Jacob winked a her suggestively and Jade blushed immediately.

"Thank you, Jacob." Jade murmured shyly.

Jacob gave her a smile. "I'm just glad you're okay now. Do you want to go home? This must have rattled you a bit."

"No, it's fine. I'm fine." She replied. "I think I'm going to be laying off cliff diving for a while though." She chuckled.

Then Sam's truck pulled in and the three of them got off with the delicious smelling foil pans and containers. The boys smiled widely as they all ran towards the three of them, meeting them halfway.

Jacob stood and extended his arm out for Jade to take. "C'mon," He began. "Let's go have some lunch."

Jade smiled and took his hand. "Thanks... for _everything_."

"Don't worry about it."

Jacob then came to realize that perhaps Bella wasn't the only person he could love. Jade might just be here to take his mind off of her, and for him to move on.

_This girl's stolen my heart. _Jacob thought, not one bit displeased.


	4. Pure Heat

_**Chapter 4 - Pure Heat**_

The next day came quickly, and Jade woke up to an empty household. Jade couldn't help but think about how eerie — how _quiet_ it was, compared to the past few days where everything was just hustling and bustling with life. Now it all seemed..._dead_.

Jade quietly slipped on her white slippers to keep her naked feet warm, and descended the stairs and walked into the kitchen. Upon the counter as clear as day, was a note, which Jade picked up and read to herself.

_Jade,_

_Chris and I went to the market and Sam went off with a few of the boys. You wouldn't wake for anything so we both decided to leave you be. We'll be back at around 3 o'clock or so._

—Emily

P.S. There should be some left-over sausage and eggs from breakfast this morning. Just heat them up in the microwave.

Jade could feel her stomach grumble upon reading the small message. Jade crumpled up the note, tossing it into the trash can, and made her way towards the fridge. She got out a plate and put the food onto it, soon placing the plate into the micro to heat it all up. A minute passed and the contraption beeped, announcing it was ready. Jade grabbed her plate, a fork, and a drink before retreating to the couch.

As she got comfortable on the couch, she snatched up the television remote from the coffee table and turned it on, channel surfing to see if anything interesting was playing.

"Jeez, there's nothing on." She mumbled, stuffing a piece of egg in her mouth. Jade then settled on watching some old cartoons as she ate her breakfast in boredom.

No more than ten minutes had passed before Jade heard an engine die, and the car's door open and close. Her head snapped towards a clock to see that it was only 1:45. Jade assumed that there wasn't a lot of traffic or anyone at the store if Emily and Chris were back already.

The front door swung open and slammed shut, heavy footsteps walking towards her. Jade turned and saw Jacob coming into the living room, oblivious to her existence.

He scanned the living room and saw her sitting upon the couch, her eyes meeting his, causing him to smile. "Oh, hey Jade." He greeted.

"Hi Jacob," Jade replied, waving her hand slightly. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." He answered, shrugging his shoulders as he walked over to the couch and plopped down next to her. "Is Sam here?"

"No, he's gone — off with the guys. Do you need him for something?"

Jacob groaned to himself and leaned back into the couch. "I was supposed to go with him into town to get some parts for my motorcycle, but I guess I can't go now." He mumbled. "So what have you been doing?"

"I just woke up and I'm eating my extremely late breakfast." Jade answered. "Nothing too fascinating."

"Boring, huh?"

"Exceptionally."

Jacob laughed heartily and got comfortable. "Get used to it, Jade." He grinned. "This place can get pretty boring sometimes."

"And here I thought that moving to another state across the country with relatives you don't know that well would be more of an adventure." Jade mused aloud.

"You don't want the adventure that's here..." Jacob mumbled under his breath, not wanting Jade to hear.

"Hey, since you want someone to go with you and I don't want to be cooped up in here all day, want me to go with you into town?" Jade inquired. "I mean, if you _want_me to."

Jacob kept how enthusiastic he really was — not wanting to weird her out — and gave her a smile instead. "Sure, I'd love the company. Thanks."

"My pleasure." She replied, sticking out her tongue playfully with a smile. Jade finished her breakfast and placed the dirty dish and utensil into the sink. "I'm going to change. I'll be right back."

"Take your time."

Jade rushed up the flight of stairs and entered her room. She went to her dresser and began to raid it for an outfit she liked, which was a gray cropped top and gray skinny jeans. Jade put a few accessories on and then felt that she was ready. She slipped on her black converse and stashed her cell and some money into her pockets before jogging down the stairs as to not keep Jacob waiting.

"Okay, I'm ready." She sighed, walking over to Jacob with a smile.

"Awesome." Jacob returned the smile. "Why don't you leave a note for Emily so she doesn't worry about where you are?" He suggested.

Jade could only nod in agreement as she walked into the kitchen. She took a piece of paper from the pad that hung on the fridge and quickly scribbled down that she was going with Jacob into town and that she'd be home soon. Jade left the piece of parchment on the counter and walked out of the house, heading towards Jacob who was leaning up against his Rabbit.

The two got into the vehicle and Jacob started the engine, soon driving down the path towards town. Throughout the entire ride, Jade and Jacob chit-chatted, laughed, and did some karaoke, which the two decided that they shouldn't do again for fear of hearing-loss, however, they enjoyed it nonetheless.

They soon arrived and Jacob parked the car inside a garage. Jade and Jacob got out of the car and headed towards the shops. They walked into an auto shop and Jacob led her throughout the entire building. Jacob explained to Jade the different parts, what the did, held together, and where they belonged. Jade was pretty sure if she was quizzed she could get a near perfect score after his lecturing.

"Stay here," He instructed. "I'm just going to go pay for these and I'll be right back." Jacob flashed her a smile and Jade couldn't help but smile back.

Jade didn't like when she fell this hard for boys, but she thought about making an exception for Jacob...

Jade leaned up against a wall and began to wait patiently. She twiddled her thumbs and looked around her surroundings, waiting for her friend to return.

There was a tap on her shoulder and she spun around to see a guy with shaggy, dirty blond hair and blue eyes standing before her. He wore some torn up jeans and a white oil stained shirt that looked like he had just been rolling around in muck.

She could only think of one word. _Yuck..._

"Hey, my name's John, but everyone calls me Johnny. You can call me that too, babe." Johnny winked at Jade suggestively, causing her to shudder. "Wanna go for a ride on my bike?"

"It's Jade. And no thanks — to _both_of your offers."

"Aw, don't be so harsh, Jade." He replied, purring her name as he got closer to her.

"There's no way in hell, John." Jade retorted. "I'm waiting for someone anyways."

"Who is this 'someone', Jade — your boyfriend?"

"No," Jade glared daggers at John as her cheeks flush over the simple thought of Jacob being her boyfriend. "He's a really good friend. Now leave me alone."

"C'mon Jade, no one can say no to me, especially when I offer a ride on my bike."

"Well, _I'm_saying no, so too bad."

"Jade—"

"She said no dammit, now stay the fuck away from her." Jacob's voice rung in Jade's ears and her head snapped towards him. He was absolutely furious that someone was trying to get at his imprint. "Get going or else I'll _make_you." Jacob seethed.

"Hey man, she's not your property. She can choose if she wants to ride on my bike with me..." He then inched closer to Jade and let his arm slink around her waist, pulling her into his body. "Or on something else." He chuckled.

Jade's eyes widened in shock and she immediately began to turn herself around to slap him, however she was beaten to the punch — literally. Jacob had punched John square in the face, delivering a bloody nose on impact. John stumbled back and fell to the floor, grabbing his face in pain, shouting curses at Jacob.

"C'mon Jade, let's get outta here." Jacob muttered, glaring at John as they left.

Jade followed close behind and kept a steady pace as Jacob briskly walked towards the car, still burning off some steam.

"Thank you for doing that, Jake. I wasn't sure if he was going to stop."

Jacob stopped in his tracks and a smile broke out on his lips, he _loved_hearing her call him "Jake". He turned around to face her and gave her a smile. "No problem, I didn't like the way that ass was treating you." Jacob told her, and then grabbed her hand. "Let's go get some ice cream — I'm paying."

The two teens then changed course and headed to their new destination. Jacob led Jade through the small crowds of people and the entire time her heart was beating uncontrollably because their hands were intertwined. They entered a quaint little diner, were seated and handed menus, being left to decide upon what they wanted.

"Is it good here?" Jade questioned curiously.

"It's only the best diner in town." He answered with a small smirk. "Their root beer floats are incredible."

"I guess I'll just have to test that theory."

"It's not a theory, it's a proven fact."

"We'll just see about that." Jade laughed.

"They're massive, too," He pointed out. "We'll split it — sound good?"

"Yup." She nodded, putting her menu down on the edge of the table. "Just don't chug the whole thing down and leave nothing for me, though." She stuck out her tongue and laughed before she continued talking. "I've seen how you eat at the dinner table."

The waitress came over and took their order down, retreating into the kitchen. She soon returned moments later and placed the float onto the table. Jade had to admit, it _was_ a pretty huge float. She was thankful she had someone to split it with since she knew she would _never_be able to finish it on her own.

Jacob grabbed his straw, took the paper covering off, and rolled it into a paper ball before flicking the small object at Jade. It hid her directly on the nose and they both laughed.

"_That's_for insulting my table manners." He declared, and Jade rolled her eyes at his childish, yet lovable, antics and uncovered her straw as well.

"This is really good, Jake."

"Good, now don't ever doubt me again."

"I'll try not to." She laughed quietly.

Within a few minutes, Jade was stuffed and couldn't take another bite of ice cream or another sip of the tasty concoction. She pushed the rest of it towards Jacob who looked up in confusion.

"You're full already?"

"Yes." She nodded. "I'm not a bottomless hole like you." She joked playfully, causing him to laugh under his breath.

Jacob took another long sip through his straw and looked up at her. "So are you and Chris going to stay here permanently...?"

"I'm not sure, actually." Jade frowned. "My dad screwed us over financially and we didn't really have anywhere else to go so we came here. He said that when he got back on his feet he'd come and take us back, but... he's not very committed to what he says a lot of the time."

"That sucks." He mumbled, looking back at the dessert. "Do you think that you're staying for the school year?"

"Yea, I think so." Jade answered. "Is the school nice?"

"Eh, yea, but school is school — boring."

"So you have a motorcycle, right?"

"Yup, it's the best."

"How long have you had it?"

"About a year, I guess..." He shrugged.

"That's really cool. I've never known anyone with a motorcycle before so you're going to have to let me ride it sometime."

Jacob smiled and he looked at Jade again. "Anytime you want, just let me know."

After Jacob finished it off, they decided to split the bill after Jade's endless complaining. Jade could tell by Jacob's expressions he was more than reluctant to. After paying, they headed back towards the car and drove back towards La Push.

When they arrived home, Jade was a little sad. She didn't want to stop hanging out with Jacob today. She was having too much fun to call it quits.

"Come on inside," Jade suggested with a smile, which he gladly returned.

They walked inside the house and saw Emily in the kitchen making dinner. "Hey Emily." Jade greeted. "How was shopping?"

"It was fine, Jade." Emily answered. "Thanks for leaving a note, if we didn't see it I would've been scared to death." She laughed, soon realizing that Jacob was by her side. "Hello Jacob, thanks for taking care of her."

"No problem, Em." He nodded.

"Let's go upstairs." Jade told him, gesturing towards the staircase.

"Sure, sure."

Jade and Jacob ascended the staircase and walked into her room. Jade walked over to her bed and plopped onto it comfortably, letting out a content sigh.

"So what do we do now?" Jade asked.

"I don't know." Jacob mumbled tiredly, giving a low chuckle. "Why'd you invite me up here if you didn't know what to do?" He sat down next to her on the bed and looked at her with a small smirk.

Jade, not knowing what to say, simply shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I thought that a genius like yourself would be able to come up with something."

"Oh, I'm sure I can."

"What are you waiting for then?" She questioned, putting her arms under her head, getting more comfortable on the bed.

"Exactly that." He smirked, attacking her side with his fingers.

Jade squealed in surprise and began to laugh uncontrollably as she was tickled. She kicked and swatted at him, trying to get him to stop by any means, and almost knocked him off the bed. He decided to get a better grip and to also make sure he wasn't going to fall off any time soon, so he straddled her hips, his smirk growing.

"I give, I give...!" She cried through her laughter.

Jacob scoffed, laughing at how easily she caved. "I don't care...!"

"Stop...!" She gasped, becoming out of breath.

"Alright say... 'Jacob is a genius, nice, and all around good looking'."

"Jacob is a genius, nice, and all around good looking!" Jade yelled quickly.

Jacob's fingers pulled themselves away from her sides and Jade caught her breath. Jacob lay down next to her and relaxed on her bed.

"Thanks for stopping."

"I can always tickle you later." He replied, earning a swat on the arm from Jade.

Jade found that she had become tired after so much laughing, and she became sleepy almost immediately. Her eyes began to droop and her breathing became steady as she slowly began to fall asleep

The last thing she could remember was being pulled into a body of pure heat.


	5. Over

_**Chapter 5 - Over**_

Days and soon weeks had gone by — each one was as good or even better than the one before. Jade's brother, Christian, had been unintentionally ruining the time and fun she was having with the guys and Emily.

Christian had become distant and it was worrying Jade tremendously. Her brother had _never_acted like this before. He was always confined in his room, however, when he did come out, he was throwing tantrums nonstop and snapping at anyone who rubbed him the wrong way.

Jade missed the old Chris, not this new version that attacked anyone who opposed his thinking, suggested an idea to get out of the house, or even attempted to talk to him...!

The sound of knocking on her door made Jade snap out of her deep thinking and look up at the door. "Come in," She called.

The door swung open and a very happy Jacob popped his head inside. "Hey, Emily says that dinner's ready and you can come down whenever you want to." He relayed the message.

Jade nodded and walked down the stairs with Jacob in front of her. Surprisingly enough, Christian sat at the dinner table tonight — not off in his room eating by his lonesome. He sat at the usual spot at the table and had already served himself a large helping, however, instead of eating, he was merely picking at his food.

Jade took her place at the table beside him and Emily, and grabbed herself a plate. She then served herself her normal helping and observed everyone that was gathered around the table.

For once, the guys were acting mature and weren't flicking spoons of mashed potatoes at one another, which meant Sam had no reason to scold them, which also resulted in an awkward silence. Jade believed that she now preferred dinner with a riot instead of this solemnity.

"So, how was everyone's day?" Emily inquired thoughtfully, attempting to get people to act livelier than they currently were.

"Fine" and "Good" were chorused throughout the room. Jade noticed from the corner of her eye that Christian was rolling his eyes and huffing in annoyance.

"I thought it was a bit boring today." Jade voiced her opinion. "Could be better. Do you think so, too, Chris?"

"Will you _please_just shut up? Your voice is so damn annoying." He grumbled, glaring at his younger sister cruelly.

"But you know what's _more_ annoying, Chris?—Your damn attitude." Jade remarked. "You're being worse than a mood-swinging, PMS-ing _bitch_."

"Jade," Emily said in her motherly tone, warning her that she was going across the line.

"There's no way that I'm worse than you, Jade."

"Christian, stop that." Emily ordered.

"That's _it_!" Jade bellowed as she quickly stood up, sending her chair screeching back as she then pummeled her older brother to the hardwood floor.

"Jade!" Emily yelled.

"_Whoa...!_" All the boys chorused, standing up to watch the brawl that began between the two siblings.

Jade punched Christian in the face with all the force she could muster up, and felt slightly better afterwards. It was like a stress reliever for her. In slight anger, Christian rolled over, sending Jade onto her back before slapping her resentfully across the face in return. The slap seemed to echo in the room, leaving everyone in shock.

Jade's cheek stung terribly as she realized what had just happened. Her eyes watered and she angrily kneed him where it would hurt him the most. Air left his lungs and he slumped right next to her on the floor.

Jacob rushed over and helped her up within seconds, worry coating his brown orbs. "Are you alright, Jade?" He asked hurriedly.

"Yea..." She mumbled in reply.

"Jacob, take her upstairs." Emily ordered, and she was soon being led to the staircase, one of his arms around her shoulders while the other held her quivering hand.

"Yea, go upstairs so he can fuck you, you whore!" Christian yelled crossly.

Everyone could only stare at Christian in the utmost shock as his words rang through their ears. Jade stared at her brother, absolutely stupefied, before rushing up the stairs, tears finally escaping her eyes.

"Jade...!" Jacob called, racing up the stairs after her. Jade ran into her room, slamming the door shut and locking it before he could even get close. She leaned up against the wooden door and slumping onto the floor, letting the tears continue to freely cascade down. "Jade, _please_let me in!" Jacob begged.

"Jake, I... I just wanna be alone right now, okay...?"

"No, it's not okay! Let me in, Jade...!" He yelled, taking a deep breath to calm himself down a bit so he could stop yelling, knowing it wouldn't get him very far.

Jade looked over at her full body mirror that was against the wall and noticed her cheek was a pinkish hue. It was just more evidence to her that the fight between her and her older brother really _did_happen.

"Jade..." Jacob whispered, sounding more pained than she could ever feel. "Please... _please_let me in."

Jade, not being able to ignore his request, slowly turned to the door, unlocked it, and twisted the handle with care. She scooted forwards and the door began to open up for him. Jacob eagerly jumped inside the room, afraid that if he took his time she would change her mind abruptly and close the door on him, and looked down at her with sympathy.

Jade couldn't believe that she looked like this in front of Jacob. She knew he probably thought she looked pathetic right about now, and so she hung her head down in embarrassment.

Jacob knelt down beside her, picked her up, and carried her to her bed, setting her down onto the furniture with the greatest standard of care that she felt like she were some kind of fine china. He sat down next to her and put his index finger under her chin, lifting it up so their eyes met, sending the oh-so familiar and pleasant electric currents throughout her body. His eyes flashed to her cheek and she knew that he was examining the reddening mark.

Jacob's face darkened with anger. "I'm going to kill him." He muttered under his breath.

"Don't." Jade whispered, shaking her head in disagreement.

"Why?"

"He's my brother."

"Which makes it all the more _worse_, Jade." He argued. "He's your older brother. He shouldn't be doing this to you, especially when you love him as much as you do!" His thumb found its way to her cheek and caressed it softly.

"I can take him yelling at me, calling me a bitch, even slapping me around... just not him calling me a whore or a slut..." She whispered sadly, playing with a few strands of hair, trying to occupy herself.

Jacob wrapped his arms around her and pulled Jade into a hug, which she was more than happy to accept and return. The two of them stayed as such for a little longer and Jade could feel more tears spill over.

As the salty tears slid onto the crook of her neck, he pulled away and looked at her sadly. "Don't cry over him anymore, Jade. He isn't worth your tears."

Jade laughed a bit to herself. "I'm not crying over him, I'm crying because I'm so happy to have you here with me." She explained. "I really don't know what the hell I'd do without someone like you, Jake."

Jacob could only smile happily and engulf her in yet another hug, making her feel safe and secure. From downstairs, Jade could hear Emily's muffled screams at Christian and she couldn't help but feel guilty. Nonetheless, Jade was soon lulled to sleep by Jacob's steady heartbeat.

Hours passed before Jade woke up. Her eyes darted to the clock on her nightstand and found it was around two in the morning, Jacob was snoring away softly beside her.

Jade was stunned that he had stayed with her. She couldn't believe Emily hadn't made him go home — not that she _wanted_him to go home, she loved his company — it simply took her by surprise.

Jade's cheeks flushed as she realized that they had slept together. She was praying that she hadn't done something embarrassing like mumble his name in her sleep...

_Well, I know that I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep._Jade told herself, and so she decided that she would leave the room and go downstairs to maybe watch some television.

She descended the stairs and into the living room where everything was dark and dead. Jade flipped the switch and light flooded the room, slightly blinding her for a few seconds before she got used to the environment around her.

Jade didn't know what to do as the thought of watching television became unappealing to her when she realized most channels played infomercials at this time and nothing might be on to watch.

Instead, she sat upon the sofa and looked out the window. She saw the dark line of trees that surrounded the house and sighed in boredom. Part of her wanted to go out and explore, but knew that Emily would surely worry about her if she found her gone.

A flash caught her eye and Jade squinted to try and enhance her vision by any means. It disappeared and she saw the outline of a person retreat into the woods.

Her body moved on its own and she couldn't believe she was doing something so crazy. Jade grabbed an LED flashlight from the kitchen and slipped on Emily's rain boots that were beside the front door before rushing out the door and to the spot where the person's outline vanished from.

Minutes passed and Jade had found nothing. Her mind had deceived her and she felt stupid for actually thinking someone had been out here at this time of night. To make matters worse, she had no real idea of where she was.

_Wonderful..._

"Why the hell did you leave the house?"

Jade screamed bloody murder as she spun around pointed the flashlight in the direction of the voice. A hand was clamped over her mouth and she closed her eyes tightly in fright.

"It's _me_, Christian, now calm the fuck down." He snapped. Jade immediately did so and stared up at her brother in confusion as he took his hand off of her mouth. "Now why did you leave?"

"I don't have to answer you."

"You're right. You don't." He agreed, a smirk rising upon his lips. "And I'm sure as hell gonna enjoy the story that you tell Emily when she finds out about this."

"You _wouldn't_...!"

"Try me."

"I thought I saw someone out here." Jade mumbled.

"That's got to be the worst excuse that I've ever heard. There's probably a good two miles of forest before you get to the rest of the houses here." He retorted. "I think you could've made up something better than that."

"I'm telling the truth! I thought I saw someone out here!"

Christian sighed, frustrated with his sister. "Fine, fine, I believe you." He rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. "Come on, before Sam or Emily realize that we're gone."

"_You_go, I can find my way back just fine."

Christian couldn't help but laugh in his sister's face. "You _always_ get lost, Jade, don't think I'll fall for that!" He bellowed, and then pointed in the opposite direction. "Just make sure you come back soon because there is _no way_I'll be able to make up an excuse as to why you're gone at three in the morning."

"Fine, I'll be back in a few."

"Good." He replied. "And Jade..."

"What, what, what do you want?" She growled.

"I'm sorry... for acting like such an ass lately. And I'm sorry for slapping you and calling you a whore."

"You're only apologizing because Emily told you to."

"No, I'm not actually. I'm apologizing because I feel like an ass to have hit my baby sister and call her a whore — especially when she's not." He paused for a moment before resuming. "I'm just really sorry, Jade. I really am. I do't know what's come over me lately, I just feel like a completely different person, and it's freaking me out..."

"It's fine, Chris..." Jade replied. "I forgive you, and I'm sorry for punching and kneeing you."

"Don't be, I earned those."

The two smiled at each other and soon shared a small hug, the tension that once hung in the thick air easing up a bit. As they separated from their embrace, Jade stepped back onto the root of a tree, losing her balance and falling to the ground onto some twigs. One scraped her arm, making a lengthy cut on her forearm.

"_Ow!_"

"You alright — is it bad?"

"Not really, it's bleeding."

"Jade!" Jacob's voice could be heard in the distance and Chris extended his arm out to help his sister stand up on her feet.

Jacob burst into the clearing and his eyes widened. Jade knew that this had to have looked bad from his point of view. She was lying on the ground, one arm covered in red ooze while her brother, who she had just had a physical altercation with earlier that night, towered over her.

"Look at what you did now...!" Jacob hollered, tackling Christian to the floor.

"Jake! Stop it now! Jake!" Jade yelled, jumping up from the ground quickly and attempting to get him off her brother. "Damn it, Jacob, sto—!"

Jacob's arm then collided with Jade's stomach, shoving her backwards into a tree a few feet away. The wind was knocked out of her and she gasped for air, her eyes wide in distress. Jacob heard her gasp and he turned to her to find out what had happened.

Jade couldn't comprehend that it was her best friend that had just hurt her...

"Jade, I'm so sorr—!" He began, taking a step towards her.

"Get the _fuck_away from her!" Christian roared in pure anger, attacking Jacob before he got too close to Jade.

"What's going on...?" Sam's familiar voice was heard as he stepped into the clearing. His eyes studied the scene before him, flashing from the fight between Jacob and Christian to Jade's tear stained face and bloody cut. "Jacob, stop now!" Sam hollered, pulling the two boys away from each other.

"Jade, are you alright?" Emily quickly asked, rushing towards her in nothing but her pajamas and a bath robe.

Jade looked over at the boys and saw their concern for her upon their faces instantly. Her eyes landed on Jacob who looked very pained by her appearance.

"Yea... I'm fine."

"Come on, let's get you home and cleaned up."

In the background, she could hear Sam lecturing both boys about how dangerous and irresponsible their fight was.

When Emily and Jade arrived home, Jade was sat down at the dining room table while Emily rushed into the kitchen to retrieve the First Aid Kit. Emily grabbed a wash cloths and cleaned the wound, soon rubbing some iodine onto it as well. After it was clean, she put gauze onto it and applied pressure to help slow the bleeding.

"Why were you out there?" She interrogated.

"I came down when I woke up, I thought I saw someone outside and I decided to go and check it out." Jade explained. "I'm sorry to have caused so much trouble."

Emily simply nodded. "Well, don't even think about going out anywhere at these hours of the morning again, _especially_ if you see someone in the woods. If you see someone you don't know, then you avoid them at all costs — this place may not look it, but it's filled with... with _creeps_." She lectured. "What happened next?"

"Chris came and asked me what I was doing out. I didn't know he had been following me so I screamed. He apologized to me for earlier, I forgave him and then we hugged. When we separated, I fell over because of a tree root and that's how this happened." Jade then gestured to her wound that Emily was covering with more gauze and adhesive tape. "After that, Jacob came and I guess he thought Chris had been the one to give me the cut because then he tackled him. I tried to stop the fight and..." Jade's voice cracked and she didn't want to continue talking.

"_And_...?" Emily urged on.

"And Jacob hit me in the stomach and knocked me into a tree." She sobbed out. "I didn't think that he was like that, Em..." She looked up at her aunt with red, puffy eyes that streamed salty tears.

"He isn't, Jade. I don't know why he would do that to you." She told her niece. "Jacob sometimes can't control his anger and how he vents. He didn't mean to do that to you — I can guarantee you that. It was an accident."

Jade wasn't sure what to say next, and so she stayed quiet, wiping away her few tears. "I'm sorry for being such a nuisance, Emily."

Emily could only chuckle and wipe away a few tears from her cheeks. "Jade, you're anything but a nuisance, and you never will be. To be honest, this is how life normally is here. Nothing's ever going to change that fact." Emily handed Jade a tissue and gave her a warm smile. "Why don't you go back upstairs and get some sleep?" She suggested. "I'm sure this has been enough adventure for one night."

Jade nodded and walked up the staircase after bidding her aunt a good night and thanking her for her cleaning her wound. Jade closed the door behind her and flopped onto her bed after changing into her pajamas.

The image of Jacob shoving her away was replaying over and over again in her mind. It was taunting her and making her emotions for him so scrambled hat she wasn't sure how she felt about him anymore.

Did she still like Jacob Black, or did she now fully loathe him...?

Pebbles collided with her window and she walked over to it to see what was happening. She pulled back the curtains and saw a worried Jacob standing below.

"Jade, open up! Let me in!"

Jade's stomach sent waves of pain to her brain and she remembered that Jacob had hit her there. She lifted up her nightgown just a bit below her breasts and saw the now forming purple bruise. Jade looked back at Jacob who looked ready to cry from the sight...

"Jade, I'm so sorry...!"

Jade felt her bottom lip quiver and she closed the curtains quickly as the tears once again began to fall down her cheeks.

She knew that she was now over Jacob Black.


	6. That's Perfect

_**Chapter 6 - That's Perfect**_

Jade grimaced as her stomach once again cried out in hunger, however, she would not give into its pleas to head downstairs and into the kitchen. She knew that Jacob was downstairs having his own breakfast with everyone else, she didn't want to see him.

"Ugh, shut up..." She groaned, glaring at her belly that only rumbled in response.

In an attempt to distract herself from thinking about food, she decided to get dressed into some fresh new clothes. There was a small commotion of laughter from downstairs and Jade could hear the door open and slam shut. Had they all left as they usually did...?

Jade sauntered over to the window and moved the curtains just a tad. The guys were walking towards the woods, Jacob being apart of the group. He turned around and their eyes met, a surge of electricity going through both of them. Jade couldn't look away from his deep, brown orbs, she didn't want to. They were incredibly mesmerizing...

There was a knock on Jade's door and that was all that was needed for Jade's eyes to be torn from Jacob's. Emily popped her head inside and gave her niece a small smile. "They're gone now. Come downstairs and eat, Jade."

Jade nodded, taking a quick glance out the window to find Jacob gone from her sight, and sighed sadly, letting the curtains she had pulled back fall gracefully back into place. With that, Jade was slowly descending the staircase and entering the dining room, taking a spot on one of the chairs as Emily appeared with a plate of breakfast.

"Thanks," Jade groggily murmured.

"You're welcome." She replied. "So don't _you_look fashion forward today."

"I'm trying to go for that whole: '_look good on the outside, feel good on the inside_' bid."

"How's that working for you?"

"It isn't."

"I take you didn't sleep well then?"

"Pretty much."

Emily remained silent for a few seconds before once again questioning Jade. "Is the food any good? Do you want me to make you something else?"

"No, it's delicious." Jade quickly declared, adding a smile to reassure her.

Emily nodded and then observed her for a little longer. "How's your stomach and arm?"

"My stomach's sore and purple, but my arm's alright, I guess." Jade shrugged.

Emily sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Jade, you _know_that you can't avoid them forever — especially Jacob — right? They're around here all day, everyday."

"I know that..." Jade mumbled, picking at the little bits of her food. "I'm just kind of confused about everything right now."

Emily nodded her head in understanding before she rose from her seat. "Alright, well... I'm off to visit Claire for a little while." Emily stated, kissing the top of Jade's head as if she were a small child. "I'll be back in a few hours. Chris is off someplace, don't know where exactly, but I know he'll be fine. Call if you need anything or if something happens, Jade."

"I will. Goodbye, Em. Have fun."

A few minutes passed by in complete and utter silence. Jade stared down at her plate that only had a few bites left, and felt that she couldn't bring herself to eat what was left of the breakfast. She ended up carrying her dishes to the kitchen, throwing away her leftovers, and washing them. After completing the small chore, she ascended the staircase and entered her bedroom, locking the door and flopping onto her bed.

She reached beneath one corner of the mattress and pulled out her diary — sure, it was a cliché hiding spot, but it would have to do until she found a better place for it. After Jade found a pen and opened it up to a fresh new page, she began to write and jot down her thoughts, creating her first ever entry into the journal...

_Dear Diary,_

_Life, right now, seems to be nothing but one big rollercoaster ride. There are so many twists and sharp turns, that I feel that I may be experiencing a case of whiplash right now — I'm not quite sure if I can handle this madness much longer._

_Jacob… the boy I'm pretty much infatuated with. It's pretty pathetic — how hard I've fallen for him, I mean. It's unlike anything else, not like any other crush that I've ever had in my entire life. I know for a fact that this just isn't dumb puppy love, it's far more than that._

_I'm not sure if I like him as much as I did, though. I just can't seem to shake off the feeling that_

_it might happen again. When Jacob did that to me, it just hurt me and shook me up, both emotionally and physically. To be honest, I was frightened of him._

_To know that the best friend that I made, the person who always seemed to have my back, make me laugh, protect me, and even save my_

_life, hurt me like that… it's not just something that you can get over like that._

_Maybe I'm over analyzing things…_

_maybe._

_One thing's for sure, I'm going to try my best to avoid Jacob and the guys for a little while. I just can't think of being close to him when my mind's so scrambled...!_

_Well, we'll see how things go next week… after all, Monday is the first day of the new school year._

_Sincerely,_

_Jade Young_

Christian was driving himself and his younger sister in Sam's truck towards La Push High School. It was their very first day. The ride was a quiet one, the two of them felt like they were being sentenced to prison, which — in a way — they were.

"I don't know why you're so dressed up." Chris commented, glancing over at his younger sibling's outfit. "Why couldn't you have just worn some jeans and a nice shirt?"

"I just want to make a good impression, is all." Jade replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "Besides, I just felt like dressing up today."

Christian sighed and didn't reply, killing the small conversation they had. After finding a parking spot in the school lot, they disembarked the truck and headed onto the campus. Needless to say they were stared down by every student that passed them, but Christian and Jade had already prepared themselves for such an occurrence and so they didn't think much of it.

The pair then entered the administration offices and walked up to one of the few secretaries who gave them a warm smile. "Good morning," She greeted cheerily.

"Good morning, my sister and I are transfer students from Queens, New York. Our names are Christian and Jade Young. Is this where we pick up our schedules?"

Her smile only seemed to grow as she nodded her head. "Yes, it is. We've been expecting you both." She replied, sauntering over to a few cubby holes and picking out two sheets of paper. "Ah, here they are." She murmured to herself, and then handed them over to Christian and Jade. "There you go. The classes are pretty easy to find around here, it's not that big of a campus as you can see, but here's a layout of the school just in case." After handing over another two sheets of paper, she wished them well on their first day of school and the two of them left.

Jade and Chris sat down upon a nearby bench and looked over their schedules, checking each others as well. Chris was a Senior while Jade was a Junior, and they both knew that they wouldn't share a single class together because of that small fact. Christian was taking the usual College Prep classes while Jade was taking English Honors and Pre-Calculus, along with a Language and Chorus as electives.

The bell rang and it was then that Jade realized it was finally time to separate from her brother for the time being. The two grabbed their belongings, schedules in hand, and then looked at each other.

"Head straight for the truck after school. That's what I'm doing." Chris told her.

Jade nodded and exchanged goodbyes with her older brother, wishing him luck in his classes for the day. When he disappeared from sight in the horde of people, she was making her way towards her first class of the day which was Honors English, hoping that none of the guys were enrolled in the class. Thankfully, the building it was in wasn't too far away.

When Jade entered the room, she noticed a few other students already in the room as well sitting a few seats apart. She immediately thought that there was assigned seating and knew that she was right when the teacher motioned her over.

"What's your name?" She inquired, looking at Jade with her half-moon spectacle glasses.

"Jade Young."

She looked down at the chart and then returned her gaze towards Jade. "Your seat is the last desk in the third row." She stated, also pointing towards the seat.

Jade nodded her head to let the teacher know she heard and then went to her seat without another word. She placed her black messenger bag onto the small desk and got as comfortable as she could in the plastic chair.

Once everyone was seated in their assigned seat, much to everyone's dismay, the teacher walked to the front of the class and cleared her throat. "Hello, my name's Mrs. Albertson, and this is Honors English. This class is easy to pass if you just do these simple three things: pay attention, finish the work, and do the reading logs." She explained, adding a small smile. "Now, odd numbered rows, turn to the person on your right. Congratulations, you've just met your partner for the rest of the school year. Get acquainted with them, become friends, and _don't_piss them off, because they're your lifeline if you forget something."

Jade turned towards the person on her right and faced a girl with the signature La Push tan, black hair, and lively brown eyes. The two girls smiled at one another and began introductions.

"Hey, my name's Kim." She greeted.

"I'm Jade."

"Cool, you're that new girl, aren't you? You transferred all the way from New York, right?"

"Yea, me and my brother." Jade nodded. "We're from Queens, New York."

"That's so cool. We don't get very many transfer students. Well, I don't even know if we've had one." She chuckled.

Jade nodded. "I take it that word travels fast here?"

"Like a wild fire."

The class few by in no time at all, and Jade was then off towards her next class, which was United States History. Once again, there was a seating chart, and Jade was placed near the back of the class. The last two people came in and Jade felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Jacob and Jared came waltzing into the classroom.

Jade couldn't look away from the two males as they made their way towards Mr. Murphy to check the seating arrangements. Jade looked around the room, her head snapping in each direction quickly before realizing that the only seats available was one behind her and on her right. As they made their way towards Jade, she could feel their gazes burning holes into body. It was unsettling.

Jade was glad with how things worked out, Jared was on her right while Jacob took the seat behind her. Sure, she wasn't completely satisfied that Jacob was so close to her, but at least she didn't have to look at him.

"Hey," Jared greeted her softly as to not draw Mr. Murphy's attention.

Jade turned to face him and gave a small, weak smile in return. "Hey," She whispered back.

"Haven't seen much of you lately. What happened?"

_Yea, because you _really _don't know._Jade thought. Jacob had to have told all of them what had happened that night. If not Jacob, probably Sam or Emily, maybe even Chris. "Just been busy with personal things, trying to sort stuff out."

_Technically, that's not a lie._

"Oh," Jared nodded his head as he listened. "It just seems like you've been avoiding everyone and well... it's pretty weird not seeing you around, you know?"

"I've just been busy." She whispered. "And also I found out my dad's a lying ass."

"What happened?"

A throat was cleared from the front of the class and the two teens turned to see Mr. Murphy at the front, staring them both down for a few seconds. Once it was quiet, he gave a small smile. "Thank you."

After a few seconds, a piece of paper flew onto her desk from Jared's.

_So what happened?_

_My dad lied about our finances. He told us that he wasn't doing so well with money and he emailed us yesterday telling us he bought a car for Chris and I. Does that make any sense...?_

_No, I can't. Stay positive, though. **New car!**_

_I know. It just feels like he gave up on us, though, like he didn't want to take care of us anymore._

_I'm sure that's not the __case, Jade. But remember, just imagine yourself driving that new car...!_

_I guess you're right..._

Jared then had to start a new page, seeing as the two of them had already filled the front and back of the first.

_I'm always right. So... uh... what happened with you and Jake? You've been avoiding each other like the Black Plague..._

_It's complicated._

_Well, I think that I'll be able to keep up._

_I'll tell you later._

_No, **now**._

_We just got into a fight, that's all._

_What else?_

_There **is** nothing else._

As Jared was reading the small message from Jade, the paper was ripped from his grasp and into the hands of Mr. Murphy. Both their heart rates accelerated and Jade and Jared exchanged quick glances with each other. They were both praying he wouldn't read it aloud to the class.

"Rule number six... _no_passing notes." Murphy declared. "Who would like me to read it...?" He inquired. No one raised their hand, however, that didn't stop him from letting the class in on Jade's and Jared's private conversation. After finishing, he crumpled up the College Ruled paper and threw it into the trash. "Do not pass notes anymore. Jade, I should hope that there is nothing else, or else you and Jared here will be going to the office on a referral."

After he finished embarrassing them, he returned to the front of the class and resumed explaining the syllabus to everyone. Jade slouched in her seat and sighed in slight annoyance, a light blush still on her cheeks from when Murphy read the note. She knew that this would probably be the class she despised the most.

When the bell rang, announcing the end of the class, Jade jumped up from her desk and raced out of the classroom, making tracks to her locker. She switched out her binders and closed the metal door, looking over at her schedule again.

Currently, it was their nutrition break, and they roughly had ten minutes until the next two classes. When nutrition ended, she would head to her Language class and then to Pre-Calculus. After Pre-Calculus, it would be Lunch and from there she would head onto her Chorus elective and end her day.

Jade looked around and saw everyone conversing with one another in their own little groups of friends. How was this supposed to work — where would she fit into all this...?

"Jade!" She turned and saw her new friend, Kim, approaching her with her usual friendly smile. "Hey I thought that was you." She said. "Don't tell me you're being a loner right now..."

"Yes, I am." Jade sighed. "I'm not too talkative and so... I don't really know anyone besides you."

"Oh, well, come on." She said, grabbing Jade's hand and leading her away. "I'm not letting you stay here by yourself! You can join me, my boyfriend and his friends. They're nice people."

As the two of them neared her boyfriend, she realized who it was and cringed when she saw the group of guys she saw every day. She kind of wished that she hadn't been seen by Kim now...

"Guys, this is Jade, she's the new transfer student."

Everyone in the group laughed, with the exception of Jacob who simply stared at the ground, and they began to explain it all to Kim. Jade couldn't help but feel extremely guilty about Jacob's mood. She knew that it was partly because of her, if not completely because of her.

"We know, babe." Jared said, kissing her lips softly. "She's Emily's niece."

"Oh...!" She shouted, beginning to laugh at herself. "I'm an idiot."

"You're _my_idiot."

"Shut up." Kim laughed out, pecking his cheek.

The bell rang minutes later and everyone whipped out their schedules, comparing and checking for similar classes. Jade sighed in relief when she found that no one else had the same Language class as she did. There wouldn't be a need to worry about getting in trouble for passing notes.

Language and Pre-Calculus went by in a blur. Jade was a little disappointed, but knew it was probably better that way. Lunch came in a hurry and Jade got another sinking feeling. She was reluctant to go out and be in the awkward presence of the guys again — especially since lunch was obviously longer than nutrition.

As Jade made her way into the cafeteria with half of the school, she wondered where her older brother could be. She hadn't seen him since they split up in the morning. Perhaps _he_could be her beacon of hope...?

She looked around and then spotted him. He was surrounded by a swarm of people, mostly Jocks and Cheerleaders. Jade kind of anticipated it. Christian was always more outgoing than she was.

"There you are! I was looking for you."

"Yea, I was wondering where you were." Jade replied, hiding the fact that she secretly wanted to not hang out with Kim, her boyfriend, or his friends.

Kim smiled at her response and took her hand. "C'mon, the guys and I eat over here." She stated, guiding her towards their table.

Jade couldn't say no to Kim, she was only trying to help her out. When they reached the table, she was on the edge of the bench seeing as the guys took up most of the space with their unusually bulky bodies.

Jade didn't feel hungry. She couldn't eat — not here, with Jacob being so close. Her hunger was no where to be found. Instead, she looked over at everyone as they chowed down on their own lunches.

"Aren't you going to eat, Jade?" Kim inquired, looking over at her new friend with curiosity. "Do you even _have_anything to eat — want some of my salad?"

Everyone's eyes immediately darted over to Jade and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "I have something to eat, Kim, but thanks for being concerned. I'm just not hungry right now, that's all." Jade explained, and took out the PB and J Emily had made for her earlier that day and flashed it around. "Anyone want it...?"

Paul quickly snatched it out of her grasp before the swarm of hands could. Jacob stared down at his food in silence, occasionally taking a small bite out of his triple layered sandwich.

"So Jade," Kim began. "What class do you have next?"

Once again, all eyes were on her — Jacob's included. "I have chorus."

"Ooh, a bit of a Christina Aguilera, are we?"

"Definitely not," Jade chuckled.

"What about a Mariah Carey?"

"Not even close."

Kim shrugged her shoulders, giving up on her guessing game. "Just like to sing, I take it?"

"Pretty much."

"Looks like I'm going to have to go by your classroom and try to hear you singing then." Kim teased.

Her and Jade shared a quick laugh and then the bell rang. Jade was surprised how fast the lunch break had ended. _Doesn't it always end right when you're beginning to have fun...?_

Everyone was gathering their belongings up from the floor and walking out of the cafeteria. Jade was one of the first out of the building.

"Jade!"

When she heard her name being called, and more importantly the _voice_that called her name, she stopped dead in her tracks. After a small inner conflict of whether or not she should turn around, she ended up doing so, seeing Jacob rushing towards her.

"Hey... Jacob." She greeted, shifting her weight uncomfortably.

"Hi, Jade." He began. "Listen, I want to talk to you about what happened."

"Jacob, please... not right now."

"No, I know. Can I maybe take you out to dinner to talk about it...?"

Jade took his offer into consideration. Dinner with him sounded really... nice, however, she was reluctant to agree because she didn't want to discuss what had happened. Jade sighed and nodded. "Sure..." She breathed out.

Jacob grinned enthusiastically. "I'll pick you up at around seven o'clock tonight. Sound good?"

"That's Perfect."


	7. Work Things Out

**Chapter 7 - Work Things Out**

Jade was in her bed, staring at the ceiling as she waited for her get together with Jacob later that night. She was shaking in her boots. She couldn't remember a time that she was this nervous. There was no doubt in her mind that this would be awkward beyond comprehension, and that was something that she just wasn't ready to deal with. Jade was simply hoping that it wouldn't be so bad that she would up and leave before their issue was resolved.

A knock on her door snapped her out of her deep thinking and she looked at the door that was now slightly open, a head poking its way inside.

"Can I come in?" Emily questioned. After a quick nod of the head, she walked inside the room, closing the door after herself and plopped onto the bed. "So... how was your first day?"

"Boring."

"Did you make some new friends?"

"I met Jared's girlfriend, if that counts."

"Kim's a very sweet girl." Emily smiled. "So I heard from a little birdie that you and Jacob have a _date_tonight?"

"It's _not_a date, Em. We're just going to talk about what happened over dinner."

"It's a date." She chuckled. "Are you nervous?"

"You can't even comprehend."

"Don't be, Jade. Everything is going to work out tonight, you'll see." She reassured. "Jacob's been a mess and I'm sure he wants everything to return to normal."

"He was really quiet today. It was... odd."

"He doesn't really talk much after what happened. Just do me a favor, Jade. Please, hear him out and don't jump to conclusions — I'm not saying I think you will, I'm only suggesting. Just try to have fun with him."

"I will, Emily. I promise."

"Great, thank you. Now, care to help me make the rest of dinner?'

"Sure."

Jade stepped out of the steamy bathroom, a large white towel wrapped tightly around her torso. With haste, she made her way up the second flight of stairs and into her room so no one would see her so bare.

Jade jumped and blushed madly as she saw Jacob sitting atop her bed, twiddling his thumbs innocently. He looked up and his eyes widened considerably, his jaw dropped open slightly before he snapped it closed. Jade saw this though, and she couldn't help but let her confidence grow.

Jade's heart rate slowly began to slow down once again, however, she still was incredibly uncomfortable being in his presence. She hugged the towel tightly and Jacob stood up, hands at his sides awkwardly.

"I'm sorry," He began. "I just came up right now because I wanted to know if you still wanted to go."

"Yes, I do." She nodded. "You said seven o'clock, right?" Both their eyes traveled towards her alarm clock and saw that it was 7:20. "Oh crap, I'm so sorry. I lost track of the time in the shower. I'm an idiot..."

"No, you're not. It's fine." Jacob replied, giving a soft sigh as he walked towards the door as well as her. Her heart pounded inside her chest like a wrecking ball as she realized that he was so close and that the only thing that separated her from being completely nude in front of him was a layer of fabric. "We'll do this another time. Is that alright with you?"

"No... no, it's not. I'll be out in a few minutes, okay? I still want to go with you right now."

This brought a small smile to his lips before he nodded. "Alright, I'll be downstairs."

After closing the door, she sighed out loud. _I've gotta hurry._

Jade was thankful that she had picked out her clothes before hand. So instead of searching for something to wear, she simply had to slip on her outfit. Within minutes, she was going down the steps and into the living room.

"I'm ready." Jade announced, meeting Jacob at the table.

He smiled at her and stood up. "You look nice." He commented.

"Thanks." She flashed him a quick smile in appreciation.

"Have fun, guys!" Emily shouted from the kitchen. "Be careful driving!"

"We will!" Jacob hollered back.

The two teens then exited the home and made their way towards Jacob's red Volkswagon Rabbit. The ride was shorter than expected, which pleased Jade because it was awkward and silent, and Jacob was soon parking in a garage, helping Jade out of her seat like a gentleman.

Jacob led her into the dinner they had went to before, and were, coincidentally, seated at the same booth. After giving drink orders, there was a silent tension in the air.

"This is all on me." Jacob declared with a smile. "Don't even think about trying to pay."

His voice made her look up at him and their eyes met each other. His dark chocolate brown eyes pulled Jade in, penetrating her soul. They had such an effect on her...

"If you say so."

It was silent until the waitress came back with their drinks and they ordered their meals.

_What did I get myself into...?_

"So how did you like your first day of school?"

Jade looked back at him and was yet again captured by his brown orbs. "It was... alright. It could've been better." She replied. "Mr. Murphy is a complete ass, though..." She mumbled.

Jacob chuckled. "He's always been one. Everyone knows it, even himself."

Jade nodded her head in response, a small smile on her lips. "Yea... so how long have Kim and Jared been dating?"

"For a while now, a year maybe. He adores her."

"I could tell."

The two didn't say anything for the rest of the meal, and when the food arrived, Jade was grateful. At least now she had an _excuse_for not talking with him. After Jacob paid the bill, they left the diner and began to walk around aimlessly. Their feet led them towards a park and after finding a bench, they sat down.

"Jade, do you want to talk about it now?"

She sighed before nodding. "Sure."

"Jade, I'm so incredibly sorry for what happened. I really am. Knowing that I hurt you so much... it's killing me inside." He began. "I... I'm not going to lie. Whenever I get really angry, I snap. I just can't control myself sometimes. You have to believe me, Jade... I would never, _ever_think of doing that to you. I never meant to cause you any harm in any way." All was quiet for a few seconds and Jacob swallowed hard. "Please say something, Jade..."

"I know that you're sorry, Jake. To be honest, I was... never really _angry_with you. I guess I was just more shocked, and maybe a little afraid at first." Jade replied. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have been so distant. I think I really just made everything worse."

"There's no need for you to be sorry, Jade. It was all me. I'm the only one who should be sorry. You had every right."

Jade shrugged her shoulders and sent him a genuine smile. "What's done is done, Jake. It's all in the past and has been forgotten."

He smiled back and let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

The two of them shared a long and warm hug on the bench. Jade had never felt so safe and _loved_. Being in Jacob's arms... it all just seemed so perfect, so _right_.

There was a low rumble and a light flashed across the cloudy night sky. Droplets of water then began to fall from the dark clouds, onto the ground below to leave a polka-dot pattern on the cement.

"Uh-oh, let's get going." Jacob chuckled, and the two rose from the bench, beginning to dash towards the parking garage through the drizzle that was turning into a total downpour.

Once underneath the shelter of the structure, they walked towards the elevator and pressed the "up" button. Jade's teeth began to chatter and her body began to quake from the icy cold temperature. The doors slid open and they both got into the box, pressing their floor number and riding up.

"Wow, you're really soaked." Jacob chuckled out, looking over her body to inspect the damage.

"Yes, well, if you haven't noticed, you are, too."

"I suppose I am, yes."

The elevator let out a soft "ding" and the doors once again slid open. They left the shaft and made their way towards his car, Jade's skin becoming covered in goosebumps.

Jacob looked over at Jade and noticed her current situation. He walked to the trunk of the Rabbit and opened it up, getting out a black leather jacket and tossing it to her. Jade stared at him in confusion, which caused him to look at her expectantly.

"Well, put it on."

"It'll get wet." She retorted.

Jacob rolled his eyes, a small smile lingering on his lips before he closed the trunk and made his way over to her. He took it from her grasp and slipped it on her like she was a child. "Can you ever just think about yourself and not others...?" He mused through a soft laugh.

"But I like being selfless."

"Just get into the car, Jade. You're getting colder by the second."

Jade did as she was told and got into the passenger seat, Jacob getting into the driver's. He revved up the engine and then pulled out of the parking space, soon driving back down the road towards La Push.

The silence was beautiful in its own way. It wasn't the awkward or tense silence they had experience in the past few hours, but it was one of understanding and contentment. Jade knew right away that things would be better from now on.

She was happy that they had gotten to work things out.


End file.
